__NOTOC__ St. Peter's Island (french: Île Saint-Pierre; german: Sankt Petersinsel) is a peninsula and former

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

situated in

Lake Biel __NOTOC__ Lake Bienne or Lake Biel (french: Lac de Bienne ; german: Bielersee) is a lake in western Switzerland. Together with Lake Morat and Lake Neuchâtel, it is one of the three large lakes in the Jura region of Switzerland. It lies approxim ...

in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. It has a length of about and a maximum width of . Its highest point is above sea level or above lake level (). It was formed in the last Ice Age (see

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

), when the

Rhône Glacier , french: Glacier du Rhône, it, ghiacciaio del Rodano , photo = Ghiacciaiorhone.jpg , photo_caption = View towards the Tieralplistock , type = Valley glacier , location = Furka Pass, Valais, Switzerland , coords ...

reached as far as the Jura mountains. It is a promontory of the ''Jolimont'', above Erlach. Politically the island is split between the municipalities of Erlach and

Twann-Tüscherz Twann-Tüscherz or Douanne-Daucher in French is a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2010 the municipalities of Tüscherz-Alfermée and Twann merged into the municipality of ...

, the largest part belonging to the latter municipality. In the late nineteenth century, following the engineering works of the Jura water correction, the water-level of the three lakes of the Seeland have dropped enough to clear the until-then hidden

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...

, linking Cerlier to St. Peter's Island, which has ever since become a peninsula, although separated from the shore by a canal. Monks of the

Cluniac The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began wi ...

order were the first inhabitants of the island, and built a monastery here in 1127. Before his expulsion,

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

spent two months on the island in 1765, calling it the "happiest time of his life".

The priory

The former priory building is a listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. It was founded in 1107 when

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Wilhelm III of Burgundy-

Mâcon Mâcon (), historically anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the prefecture of the department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home to near 34,000 residents, who are referred to in French as ...

gave his lands in

Bellmund Bellmund (french: Belmont) is a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Bellmund is first mentioned in 1107 as ''Bellus mons''. In 1228 it was mentioned as ''Belmunt''. The municipa ...

and on the island, at the time known as the "Island of the Counts", to Cluny Abbey. A small monastery was built on the island, possibly on the site of an earlier church. Traces of

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

graves, a Carolingian wooden monastery and an abandoned 11th century

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...

have been discovered near the current building. The small priory had at most five monks in residence and may have had additional rooms for travelers. On 10 February 1127 Wilhelm IV, the son of Wilhelm III, was buried in the monastery graveyard after he was murdered in Payerne a few days previously. A monastery church was built north of the priory in the first third of the 12th century. The

vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

and patronage rights over the monastery remained with the

Counts of Burgundy This is a list of the counts of Burgundy, i.e., of the region known as Franche-Comté, not to be confused with the Duchy of Burgundy, from 982 to 1678. House of Ivrea (982–1190) House of Hohenstaufen (1190–1231) House of Andechs (1 ...

before probably passing to the Zähringens. They were followed by the

Counts of Kyburg The Kyburg family (; ; also Kiburg) was a noble family of ''grafen'' (counts) in the Duchy of Swabia, a cadet line of the counts of Dillingen, who in the late 12th and early 13th centuries ruled the County of Kyburg, corresponding to much of wha ...

, in the 13th century and the Counts of

Nidau Nidau is a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Nidau is first mentioned in 1196 as ''Nidowe''. In 1352, it was recorded in Latin as ''Nydow''. The remains of a number of ...

in the first half of the 14th. In 1484 the priory was dissolved and the estates passed to the college of canons of St. Vinzenz Cathedral in Bern. After Bern accepted the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

in 1530, the priory buildings were transferred to the Niederen Spital (a hospital) in Bern. The monastery church was demolished in 1577 and a

wine cellar A wine cellar is a storage room for wine in bottles or barrels, or more rarely in carboys, amphorae, or plastic containers. In an ''active'' wine cellar, important factors such as temperature and humidity are maintained by a climate control system ...

built below the former

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

. Over the following years the priory building was used as a sheep farm and an inn and it was extensively modified, renovated and rebuilt. Originally built as a four sided building with a central courtyard, in 1810/15 the north wing was demolished turning it into a three wing, horseshoe shaped building. The south wing was unified under a single roof in the 19th century and in 1911 it was renovated in the Swiss ''Heimatstil''. Today the priory building is a hotel and restaurant.Hotel/Restaurant website
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References

* Swisstopo topographic maps

External links

St. Peter's Island on biel-seeland.ch
Landforms of the canton of Bern Lake islands of Switzerland Islands of Lake Biel {{bern-geo-stub